Quantified Ocyropsis spp. gut content observations from the Gulf Stream during June 2021 (Ocean Ctenos project)

Abstract

Oceanic ctenophores are widespread predators on pelagic zooplankton. This data describes the daytime and nighttime gut contents of a ubiquitous oceanic ctenophore, Ocyropsis spp. as a component for evaluating trophic impact of this and other oceanic ctenophores in planktonic communities. In situ imaging of Ocyropsis spp. were made via blue-water (daytime) and black-water (nightime) SCUBA diving from a small boat along the western edge of the Gulf Stream, 5 to 8 km off the coast of West Palm Beach, Florida (26° 43′ 93″ N, 79° 59′ 15″ W). In situ, scaled images of Ocyropsis spp. guts were used to determine prey content. These were evaluated by measuring their dimensions and that of the ctenophore to estimate gut fullness.

For a complete list of measurements, refer to the full dataset description in the supplemental file 'Dataset_description.pdf'. The most current version of this dataset is available at: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/918719